Rogue Security Software has quickly become one of the largest banes on the Internet today. By convincing the user that their computer is infected they get the user to actually install the software and therefore bypass the real security software on the computer. Once installed, they attempt to get the user to purchase the “full” version and make the computer almost unusable. Removal can be complicated and costly.

Google has identified over 11000 sites that currently are infected or even intentionally hosting these malwares and other malwares are called “drive-by’s” and only reside for temporary periods to avoid detection.

Sound scary? It’s not that bad and Fast PC Pros has some tips for you.
1) Know what your antivirus software looks like when it is reporting an infection.
2) If a windows pops up that you are unfamiliar with, use the task manager to close it.
3) Keep Windows and your Antivirus software up to date.

If you find that your computer is experiencing unusual pop-ups are, your are being redirected while browsing the internet, don’t wait to call for assistance. The longer you wait, the tougher these malwares are to remove. Fast PC Pros have become experts at virus and malware removal and will get you back up and running quickly.

In the world of notebook computers, it all comes down to battery life and how quickly you can start using your computer once you hit the power button. Solid State Drives or SSD’s are a great solution for both these issues. They are very similar to the memory used in your camera or a USB flash drive. There are no moving parts as in a conventional hard drive so they use much less power and therefore extend battery life considerably. They also boot up much quicker due to the high rates of data transfer.

While it is very true that the performance of the Solid State Drive is way beyond that of the closest comparable hard drive, their price is considerably more.

A new Macbook Pro comes standard with a 320 GB, 7200 RPM Hard Drive. To upgrade to a 256 GB SSD drive, the cost is $650.

That’s a hefty upgrade even if it is a Mac. A conventional 250 GB, 7200 RPM retails for $50 while the lowest price found a 250 GB SSD drive was $375. While aftermarket replacement SSD drives are a little less expensive, they are still a luxury for most people.

If replacing your drive with a SSD drive is the direction you want to go, Fast can help by cloning the old drive and saving you considerable time and headache.  Cloning eliminates the need to reinstall all applications and updates and gets you up and running fast.

With all the concern about securioty with Android devices,  I thought I would repost this article by Al Sacco of cio.com

1) Protect Your Android with a Password–Now!

The single most effective security measure you can take to protect your
Android device is to lock it with a password. It sounds simple, but a strong
password–or even a weak one–will protect you and your smartphone from the vast
majority of threats; if a malicious party can’t get past your password screen,
your data and everything else on-device is generally secure.

Depending on the model of your Android smartphone, you’ll have a variety of
password options, but they’re all accessed in mainly the same way. Open up your
Android Settings menu and scroll down to the section called Location &
Security Settings or something similar. First, enable Screen Unlock Security and
you’ll then be presented with a number of password options, depending on your
device.

For example, my Motorola Atrix 4G provides password options for a Pattern
Lock, for which you can set a specific “swipe pattern” to unlock your device; a
PIN Lock that uses numbers to secure your handheld; a Password Lock, for which
you can employ both letters and numbers; and finally, a biometric-based
Fingerprints Lock that employs the Atrix’s fingerprint reader for
authentication.

Though the Fingerprint Lock is the most secure option…I’m a bit wary of
storing my biometric information on Google’s servers, so I opt for the Password
Lock. In order of “secureness,” the Fingerprint Lock is most secure, followed by
the Password Lock, PIN Lock and finally, the Pattern Lock. But using any one of
these Android password security options is better than not using one at all.

(Note: If you choose to employ the Pattern Lock option, it’s a good idea to
frequently wipe your touch screen clean, since repeated entry of your pattern
lock can leave a “trail” that can be spotted by hackers and used to gain access
to your device.)

After you set your Android password, you should set your Screen Timeout options to a relatively low option, so your device display shuts off and locks itself shortly after you last touch it. To do so, open up the Android Settings menu, scroll down and select Display. On the following screen, locate the Screen Timeout option and pick a value–I suggest one minute or less for maximum security.

2) Customize Locked Home Screen with Owner Info

Imagine you accidentally leave your smartphone at a bar. A good Samaritan
locates the device and wants to get it back to its rightful owner…but it’s
locked and the home screen shows only a beautiful, albeit useless, ocean
vista.

This scenario plays out all the time, and if more smartphone owners only
added owner information to their devices’ home screens, many more lost devices
would likely be returned. Unfortunately, Android doesn’t have any built-in
option that lets you post owner information on your device’s locked home screen,
like other mobile platforms, including Research In Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry OS.
But a couple of third-party applications will do the trick.

My favorite option for adding owner information to your Android home screen:
the Phone Found – Owner Info app, which is available for free via
the Android Market. To customize the Owner Info app, simply launch the software,
hit the Edit menu options and enter in your contact information. You can then
open up the app’s Settings and choose which information you want to display on
your device’s locked home screen.

3) Do NOT Root Your Android Device

To “root” your Google Android device means to remove a number of
manufacturer- and wireless-carrier-imposed restrictions put on your smartphone
to make it easier for said parties to install and deliver the applications and
services they want you to employ, among other things.

Rooting also opens up system-level access to your device’s core resources,
which is not a good thing, at least from a security perspective, since doing so
also removes a number of safeguards installed to help protect your device from
malware and other potentially dangerous code.

Unless you’re a developer or someone who is very familiar with Android and
you’re simply willing to take your chances, you should NOT root your Android
device. Ever. Not rooting might mean limited access to some cool, custom
applications and services, and you won’t be able to download apps from many
unofficial third-party app stores. However, avoiding a root does vastly increase
security, because in large part applications can’t gain system-level access
without a root.

Bottom line: Don’t root your Android device. But if do, beware that in
rooting your smartphone, you’re significantly reducing your device’s existing
security safeguards.

4) Stick to the Official Android Market for Apps

It’s a good idea to be very selective about where you download your Android
mobile applications. In fact, I suggest only downloading applications from
Google’s Android Market, even though the whole DroidDream situation proves the
official Android Market is not 100% free of malware and other harmful apps.
(Following the DroidDream debacle, Google did, however, vow to bolster Android Marketplace security.)

Every once and a while, I’ll download an Android app from a source other than
the Android Market, but I’m always aware of the potential danger, and I always
use some type of antivirus scanner after the download to help ensure
security–more on Android antivirus coming up in the next section.

As a rule of thumb, it’s a wise idea to get your Android software directly
from Google’s Android Market.

5) Google Android Antivirus

A good mobile antivirus app scans new Android software downloads for obvious
signs of tomfoolery, such as strange permissions- or download-requests. And a
number of free and commercial, or paid, Android antivirus apps are currently
available in the Android Market.

I can’t personally vouch for the effectiveness of them all, but in general,
running one of the more popular antivirus apps is better than not running any
antivirus at all. The app I’ve used most is Lookout
Mobile Security. Lookout is available as a free download, with a basic
antivirus scanner, Find-My-Phone features to help locate lost or stolen devices
and backup/restore options. You can also upgrade Lookout for more in-depth
security features, but the free version should provide basic protection for
average users.

Another free antivirus option is the aptly named Antivirus Free app.

Even if you choose not to constantly run an Android antivirus application,
it’s a good idea to download one and scan your device occasionally for
potentially harmful apps.

6) Android Wireless Connectivity and Security

In general, it’s a wise idea to disable any and all unused
wireless-connection options on your Android smartphone. In other words, you
should turn off your Wi-Fi when you leave home and won’t be in range of another
Wi-Fi network for the day. When you’re done using that Bluetooth headset in the
car, turn off Bluetooth. Doing so will not only conserve battery life, it’ll
reduce the risk of malicious parties detecting, or even connecting to, your
device without your knowledge.

In addition, you should also disable your Wi-Fi auto connect option–if your
device has such an option–to ensure you don’t automatically connect to a public
Wi-Fi hotspot, through which a Bad Guy could access your device data. Turn off
Wi-Fi auto connect by opening up your Android Settings menu, then choosing
Wireless & Networks and next, Wi-Fi Settings. If your device has a Wi-Fi
auto connect option, you should see it listed here. Uncheck the auto connect box
to turn off this functionality.

On the Wireless & Networks settings page, you’ll also see a Bluetooth
Settings option. Open up your Bluetooth Settings and turn Bluetooth on if it’s
not already. Then click the Device Name option and change your Android’s name to
something unique and specific to you. This will reduce confusion in the future,
should you attempt to connect your smartphone to another device via
Bluetooth.

If your Android device supports mobile hotspot features, you’ll want to
secure your personal network. First, again open up your Wireless & Networks
settings and then scroll down to and select Mobile Hotspot. Next, turn on your
Wi-Fi hotspot feature and click the Wi-Fi Hotspot Settings settings menu.

Once the hotspot features are activated, your Wi-Fi Hotspot Settings page
should show an option to Configure Wi-Fi Hotspot. Open up this menu, assign a
new, unique name to your network, choose WPA2 PSK security from the dropdown
menu and then assign a password to your network. Save your changes, and your
Wi-Fi hotspot is now secure.

It’s a good practice to turn off you Wi-Fi hotspot when not in use, so
unauthorized parties cannot employ your network, eating up you monthly data
allotment and/or accessing your device information.
Al Sacco covers Mobile and Wireless for CIO.com.

Hackers found a way to insert malicious code into over 50 Android Apps available in the Google Android Market. They appear to have been available over the course of 4 days and were downloaded by 50,000 to 200,000 users. The code allowed hackers to remotely install more junk apps on users phones and devices.

Google reacted quickly to deal with the situation and deleted the contaminated apps from the Market. The company, apart from banning the developers responsible for the act, also remotely wiped the applications from users’ devices.

The only concern is that, even though Google wiped the apps from peoples phones, what about the additional malicious code that may have been installed. Only Google knows.

If you feel your device may have been a target, contact Fast.

For some time my PC was ludicrously slow, and Outlook 2003 seemed to have something to do with it. Outlook would take forever to download email, and it would often crash, prompting even more delays when it decided to “Check my Personal file” because it was not closed properly. Arrghhhhh!

Not quite knowing what the problem was I decided to remove as many files from my PC’s hard disk as possible, and do a defragmentation. And that’s when I found the problem. The Windows defragmentation program was able defrag everything on my hard disk except for one file – the Outlook PST file (in my case personal.pst) which was an incredible 11 GB in size. No wonder my four-year-old computer was struggling.

The Outlook PST file basically holds all the Outlook data, that is, all the emails you get. As you can imagine, over time this can build up, and become a monstrous file.

Luckily, it’s not too difficult to cut your Outlook PST file to a reasonable size. Here’s what you need to do.

First, delete any unnecessary emails. This might sound obvious, but I for one, for example, had year of emails from WordPress installations telling me someone had commented on a blog somewhere or other. If it’s not needed, delete it. And don’t forget to empty the trash, which you can do by can do by right clicking the “Deleted Items” folder and selecting Empty “deleted Items” folder.

Second, and this was the big break through for me, archive all your older email. What this does is to transfer old emails (before a date set by you) from the Outlook PST file that you use for your daily work, and transfer it to an archive PST file (often called archive.pst). This takes a lot of pressure off Outlook. You do this by selecting File –> Archive. In my case I archived all email more than 3 months old.

Third, and this is critical, you need to compact your PST file, so that all deleted and archived emails are actually removed from the PST file. You can do this by selecting File -> Data Management

Be aware that archiving and compacting a large PST file can take some time. In my case the computer crashed when I tried compacting the PST file the first time, but I was able to get it to work by disconnecting the Internet, ensuring no other applications were running, and letting it work through the night.

Ultimately, I was able to cut the size of my personal.pst file from 11 GB to 1.6 GB.

Now, Outlook takes much less time when downloading emails, and crashes less often. As a result my computer feels much snappier, and I’ve been able to yet again delay upgrading my computer (the thought of it feels me with dread, but that’s another story).

Oh, and if you need to access emails in your archive, it’s as easy as going to File –> Open data.

For other great tips and tricks, contact Fast PC Pros

As of December 2010, over 14 million iPads had sold.  No other tablets even come close.  The tide may be turning as Google prepares to release its Android Honeycomb OS any time.  Some of the reasons this OS my make the difference are:

1. Notification Bar

The new notification bar in honeycomb is a very useful widget that runs along the bottom of the screen and stays out of the way compared to the Apple notification that are quite disruptive and can even cause crashes.

2. Multitasking

The Android platform has been using multitasking from the beginning.  Apple my release this feature in the next generation but, at this time, it is not available on the iPad. Also, with the new dual-core processors and large amounts of RAM (1 GB) on the new Honeycomb tablets, they will jump from app to app with ease.

3. Flash

The battle between Adobe and Apple is far from over.  This is a big issue when you consider how much of the content on the web uses Flash.  Apple offers a few alternatives to Flash but they don’t work with most of the web based videos and games.

Other features of the Android based tablets have a definite advantage over the iPad such as dual-core processors, more RAM, 5 home screens rather than 1 and an abundance of syncing apps.  All this could change with the release of the next generation iPad so loyal Apple users will have to see what’s coming.

Fast PC Pros knows all the tricks in getting any of these devices to work with your business.  Contact Fast with your questions or for advice on which way your business should go.

So are anti-virus programs actually needed on a smartphone? I would say at this current time; No. You do not need anti-virus, as there are very few programs out there that will harm your device. However, don’t let that fool you into thinking every app is safe. Follow some of these tips to stay safe, and keep your device running smooth.

1) The best anti-virus out there right now is you. We’re all pretty smart and have common sense, just check the app before you download it and try and stick to main-stream apps.

2) Some of the really out there “cool” apps that have very few rating and very few downloads are always kinda fishy to me. If the app says it can launch the Space Shuttle, that’s pretty sweet and all, but I would stay clear.

3) DO NOT EVER CONNECT TO OPEN WI-FI HOTSPOTS! Starbucks has some good overpriced coffee, and some BAD internet. It goes in this order of do not connect… Open->WEP->WPA->WPA2. Do not EVER connect to an open wifi hotspot, as anyone could easily start filtering packets like crazy and just read everything your sending and receiving.

4) The Android OS is built off a Linux platform, and as of right now, there are very few viruses out there for Linux (in comparison). So don’t lose any sleep over it.

5) Know the Developers you download from. Google has a system in place to block or filter malicious code, but they can’t catch 100%. If you think the code is malicious, report the developer.

6) We all know our phones are super high powered, and can rule the world and all, but the more stuff you dump on them, the slower they’ll get. So try not to overload too much on apps.

6.5) If you have an app that you NEVER use, delete it! It’s not worth having on your device if you’re not gonna use it.

If you feel like you need additional protection, there is AV software available in the market.  Read the comments to see which is best for you but, remember, common sense works the best when it comes to protection.  You can always contact Fast if you have questions.

For months now, Facebook has been plagued with links leading to fake security scans that, in fact, are malwares themselves.  Now, Twitter has the same problem.

Using the new Google URL shortner, “goo.gl“, the links are masked but end up leading people to domains located in the Ukraine which encourage the user to scan their computer with a bogus antivirus called Security Shield.  Once the user clicks to scan, they inadvertently start the download of the bogus antivirus software which the user must purchase in order to remove.  The problem is, once you give them your credit card, your finances are in as bad a shape as your computer.

As with most malwares, the best solution for removal is Malwarebytes.  The problems is that once your computer is infected, it can be very difficult to install and runMalwarebytes for removal.  The Techs at Fast PC Pros have become experts at the removal of these items and can also perform a complete PC tune-up which can help your PC run like it did when it was new.

Best advice, get to know what the alert from your current antivirus looks like and, if you see a different looking warning, close the window immediately.

As people with Android phones and devices start to move outside the shelter of the “Market”  to find new apps, the risks increase.  A new Trojan has surfaced in China called Geinimi.  It is a server driven Trojan that can be told what to do by outside servers.  The main concern being that it transmits user data and contact information back to its servers. 

There have been no reports here in the United States but it is surely a sign of things to come.  It has been found mostly in games that have been hacked and repackaged with the infection.

People should start to take the same precautions with their smart phone downloads as they do their PC downloads.  Try to download from reputable places like the Market and read the user comments before downloading.

Certainly there will be advances in anti malware protection in the future but, for now,  Be smart and exercise caution.  Another safeguard is to create a backup image of your system so, in the event you do find a infection, you can take your device back to its uninfected state quickly and easily.  Contact Fast if you would like more information on protecting your Android based device.

A recent article byBitDefender Anti-Virus.

1. Don’t assume anything. Make some time to learn about securing your system.